In my job as a motivational speaker, here’s what I SAY that I believe: That we, as women, do not need to apologize for wanting to look our best! Hey – I’ve been nipped, tucked, lifted, plucked, enhanced, veneered, colored, sheered, whitened, brighted, lightened, tightened, plumped up,exfoliated, peeled and repeeled! And I’m not just OKAY with that – I’m DELIGHTED with it! So when I read the latest BRILLIANT blog post by my friend, Tami Evans,about how she shaves her peach-fuzzy “stache,” and saw how unabashedly and unapologetically she was willing to share that info with us, I thought, “Sing it, sister!”
Ah but then an interesting thing happened. I opened one of my headshots that I’m turning into a huge poster sized picture for something (the one here), and there, before my very eyes, in hyper-magnified, larger-than-life size appeareda bazillionwrinkles, flaps, folds, creases, and splotches. I looked like the 98 year old Creature from theBlack Lagoon! I was aghast! So I whipped open Photo Shop and went to work. And in a very short time, I looked just like Jennifer Aniston! Okay, okay. Maybe not JUST like her, but less…floppy than I did before.
My husband walked in just then, took one look at what I was doing and said, “What are you doing? Oh, you don’t need to do THAT! You look fine just like you are.”
Okay, first of all, dude,”Fine” is NOT what I’m going for. Secondly, I noticed that when he said that I got a little bit (alright a LOT) defensive. Isnapped back, “Wait a minute! I don’t have to apologize for this! I LIKE the way this looks! This makes me happy! I’m not a bad person! YOU are the bad person to suggest that I am a bad person! Go away!”
And then it hit me. I was SO apologizing for something that I SAY I don’t need to apologize for! All I needed to say when he asked what I was doing was, “Having a BLAST!!!”
That’s it. That’s all. No defense. Zippo.
So this is me – owning my Photoshop skills. LOVING them, actually and willing to put them to good use whenever I feel like it. And here’s my question to you: What do you do to make yourself look and feel better that you’ve kept hidden away because, “what would people think” if they knew? I’m just saying, when you can unabashedly own those things out in the life of day, it is one WICKED good feeling!
Linda Larsen, Humorous Motivational Speaker&
Helping people bring their finest, best & happiest self to life!
